In Spite of Ordinary Obstacles
by eclecticxdetour
Summary: Rated K For Brief Swearing and Blasphemy SUMMARY: Sam gets a bad grade.


**Warnings**: Sam is 8, Dean is 12  
**A/N**: This was written for the **samdean_otp** comment fic meme. Specifically for **benitle**'s prompt of _wee!Sam brings home a bad grade and is devastated.

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The first time Sam brought home an 'F' he was eight years old. He was supposed to write about his hero and of course he'd picked his big brother. He'd written about how his brother was the bravest person he knew and how Dean protected him from things that went bump in the night.

He'd been happy with what he'd written, sure that nobody else had written about their big brother. He was certain that everyone else had written about Michael Jordan or Madonna; some big celebrity that the rest of his classmates hadn't even _met_.

But Sam didn't care about those people. They were probably good people, too, but none of them could be a bigger hero to him than Dean.

He didn't let Dean check over it before he turned it in at school. He'd wanted to surprise his big brother after his teacher had graded it with an A and a sticker. So when he'd gotten his slightly crumpled piece of notebook paper back with a red 'F' on it he'd been confused.

He waited until school was over and had quietly asked his teacher about his grade.

"I'm sure your older brother is your hero, Sam, but monsters only exist in people's dreams, sweetie. You received the grade you did because I don't encourage lying."

He'd been tempted to tell her that she was wrong, to show her their dad's journal and let her see for herself all the information their dad had on the evil that lived in the world. But he'd just nodded sadly and shoved his paper into his backpack before walking to the front of the school to meet Dean.

"Hey, squirt," said Dean loudly taking Sam's small hand in his own so he could lead them back to the house.

"Hi."

Dean frowned; he already _knew_ something had happened at school to upset his little brother. Usually Sam would talk a mile a minute about each and every thing that happened at school. So to get a one syllable greeting from Sam was enough to clue him in.

"What happened?"

"Nothing," mumbled Sam, dragging his beat-up sneakers over the sidewalk as they walked.

"No point lying to me, Sammy. I'm your big brother," he said, like that explained everything and it _did_.

Sam sighed and shook his head.

"I'm gonna find out eventually, you know."

Sam looked up at his big brother with wide eyes and he sniffled. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Is someone bullying you?"

"No."

"Sammy, c'mon," moaned Dean, wanted to make whatever was bothering Sam better so his brother would be _Sammy_ again.

Sam shook his head again and let go of Dean's hand when they got to their rental.

Dean sighed and unlocked the door, frowning again when Sam practically bolted into the house.

"Dude, I'm gonna get it out of you one way or another so just _tell_ me!"

Sam narrowed his eyes at Dean and shouted, "Fine!" He threw his backpack on the floor and rummaged around for his paper. "I got an 'F', Dean!"

He shoved the paper at his brother and his chin dipped down to his chest when Dean looked at it.

"Jesus, Sam," breathed Dean, eyes taking in the big 'F' at the top of Sam's paper and the little note that said the paper was supposed to be truthful, not a fairytale. "What the hell?" he said, smiling a little when Sam's mouth fell open at his swear.

"Hey, c'mon," he said, gesturing for Sam to follow him into the living room. He settled himself on the couch and patted the cushions so Sammy would sit next to him. "What's this about, huh?" he asked, pointing to the teacher's note on his paper.

"Had to write about my hero," muttered Sam, looking to Dean when he saw Dean mouthing the words he'd written.

Dean's eyes widened when he'd gotten to the end. He knew Sam had some sort of hero-worship for him, but he didn't know it ran so deep. He felt his heart flutter in his chest when he'd finished reading. He didn't even care if it outed their family business; just that he was Sam's hero. His little brother could have written about _anyone_ and he'd chosen him.

"Sammy…"

"I know. I should have tried harder to get a better grade."

"I don't care about the grade, Sam," said Dean, nudging Sam's chin with his fist so Sam would look at him. "This is great, kiddo."

"Really?" asked Sam dubiously, sure his brother would yell at him for his bad grade.

"Am I really your hero?"

"Of course you are. You're the only person I can always count on," said Sam softly.

Dean grinned and curled his arm around his little brother's shoulders, rubbing at Sam's skull with his knuckles, messing up Sam's hair with a noogie.

"Dean!" laughed Sam, bad grade already in the back of his mind. If Dean wasn't upset about his bad grade he wasn't going to mope about it either.

"This is the best thing I've ever read," said Dean, standing up from the couch and tugging Sam with him. He took them into the kitchen and slapped Sam's report up on the fridge with one of the alphabet magnets there.

"You're just sayin' that 'cuz it's about _you_."

"So what if I am. Thanks, kiddo," said Dean quietly, squeezing Sammy in a hug.

When their dad came home later that evening and saw the big red 'F' on their fridge he'd said his fill. Sam didn't even care because Dean grinned at him all the while.


End file.
